The present invention relates generally to controlling ground bounce in semiconductor devices.
Ground bounce is known to occur in integrated circuits and to cause signal distortion and increased gate delays. Problems associated with ground bounce, or other power rail noise, become more pronounces as trace sizes are reduced for deep submicron technologies. The use of de-coupling capacitors has been proposed to address the problem of integrated circuit ground bounce. Discrete decoupling capacitors, which are external to an integrated circuit device, may not adequately resolve ground bounce introduced on an integrated circuit if the ground bounce is generated because of switching on the integrated device. Integrated decoupling capacitors, formed on the integrated circuit device, can be used to stop such internally generated ground bounce, but such internal capacitors can occupy significant die area.
Therefore, a method and or apparatus for controlling ground bounce that overcomes the problems of the prior art would be useful.